Abstract

Rhetorical studies of genre have investigated the complex relationships between a range of genre activities and their social, historical, and institutional contexts. However, the temporal dimensions of these contexts require further specification and explicit examination. This article offers a first step toward conceptualizing the temporal dimensions of rhetorical contexts and considering the interplay between those dimensions and genre activity. First, the author reviews how temporality has figured in rhetorical studies of genre through the notions of kairos and temporal exigence. She then presents two models of time, “clock time” and “process time,” as a means for representing the temporal dimensions of rhetorical contexts and genre activity. Finally, the author examines the interplay between these temporal models and genre by analyzing a nurse practitioner's communicative interaction with two patients. By conceptualizing and examining the relationship between time and genre, this article adds to our understanding of genre as situated social action.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2000-01-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088300017001004
Open Access
Closed
Topics

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (10)

  1. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Written Communication
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 10 →
  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication

Cites in this index (1)

  1. Written Communication
Also cites 13 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1177/0261927X92111004
  2. Genre knowledge in disciplinary communication: Cognition/culture/power
  3. 10.1080/01638538809544697
  4. 10.1080/01638538409544587
  5. Central problems in social theory: Action, structure, and contradiction in social analysis
  6. 10.1086/223992
  7. Metaphors we live by
  8. 10.1080/00335638409383686
  9. 10.1017/S0047404500021023
  10. Social organization of medical work
  11. 10.1093/past/38.1.56
  12. 10.1007/BF00177303
  13. 10.5465/amr.1992.4279545
CrossRef global citation count: 13 View in citation network →